A Digestion System Helped One Hospital Reach its Zero Waste Goals

One Travelers Rest, S.C.-based company says it can eliminate 100 percent of a facility’s food waste onsite—increasing diversion rates and decreasing carbon footprints—leading to improved sustainability.

EnviroPure Systems, a T&S company, produces a hyper-accelerated food waste disposal system that uses a combination of continuous mechanical processing and biological digestion, aided by a proprietary micronutrient solution called Biomix, to convert food waste into gray water within 24 hours.

The company partners with hospitality and healthcare facilities, office complexes, universities, supermarkets, casinos and military bases.

“The process starts with a grinder, which allows the system to accept 100 percent of organic food waste, including bones and shells,” says Jona Gallagher, national sales manager for EnviroPure. “EnviroPure is optimized for facilities generating 300 or more pounds of food waste per day, typically those serving 950 meals or more per day.”

Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital, a 242-bed facility located in New Rochelle, NY, installed the medical system’s first EnviroPure unit in September 2014 in order to handle 4,200 pounds of food waste produced each week.

The medical center recently announced that it was able to reach its zero-waste goal by diverting more than 125 tons of food waste from landfills in less than two years, converting it instead into safe gray water, by using the EnviroPure Systems.

“We were looking for a food waste disposal solution that would help Montefiore meet its sustainability goals and improve working conditions for our food service team,” Jeff Hogan, Montefiore Medical Center’s energy and sustainability manager, said in a statement. “With its ability to safely dispose of food waste and integrate into our existing workflow, EnviroPure was the ideal fit for our needs.”

The New Rochelle unit has processed 250,000 pounds of food waste, resulting in 233,000 fewer pounds of carbon emissions and $15,000 in savings from waste hauling fees. Additional labor savings were realized over previous food waste management practices.

According to Gallagher, EnviroPure’s biggest benefit is that it can be integrated into the workflow of a commercial kitchen by adding grinders in the prep and ware washing areas, eliminating the additional hauling and sorting that is usually involved with waste removal.

“EnviroPure’s one-step process allows the operator to load the grinder and walk away,” she says. “And continuous processing means there are no hourly capacity limits. Units are available in a wide range of sizes to meet a facility’s needs.”

Additionally, EnviroPure generates no byproduct that requires additional processing or removal. The only byproduct, gray water, meets all municipal restrictions for water quality and is safe for sewer and facility plumbing systems.

“Unlike dehydrators, pulpers or composting, there is no remaining byproduct that must be disposed of or hauled to a disposal facility. And the system requires no clean-out,” says Gallagher.

After determining that the New Rochelle installation was successful in reducing costs and the environmental impact associated with food waste, Montefiore added a second unit at its Wakefield Campus, located in the Bronx, in 2015.

“EnviroPure has been a tremendous success for Montefiore. The system is simple to use for our staff, and data from the remote monitoring system shows us the impact we’re making on the environment and our bottom line,” Hogan said in a statement. “We’ve not only made strides toward our sustainability goals by keeping food waste out of landfills, but also saved time and money.”

Gallagher says that in addition to labor reductions, facilities typically save on waste hauling and tipping fees.

“EnviroPure’s expenses are $28 a ton, which is on the low end of all tonnage rates,” she says.